Hospital talks end before they start
Published 3:27 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
SNOQUALMIE – In a quick turn of events, the board of
commissioners for Hospital District No. 4 voted Thursday night not to engage in
further discussions with the American College Medical Center (ACMC)
of Tukwila.
The vote – which was unanimous- apparently ended ACMC’s bid to
reopen Snoqualmie Valley Hospital.
According to Jeff Lyle, hospital district superintendent, the
primary bone of contention was ACMC’s listing of Overlake Medical Center as
a company “ACMC is dealing with.” The affiliation with Overlake
was listed in a letter from ACMC’s Kenneth Young to Lyle, dated Sept. 2.
“Under the old business section of the meeting,” Lyle commented,
“President (Carol) Hoch went through the background of the last meeting,
where they made the motion empowering her to sign the agreement with
ACMC, contingent on receiving several items. These included audited financial
reports, a list of board members, ACMC’s articles of
incorporation, proof of incorporation as a
non-profit, and a list of all entities they
currently have contracts with.”
Young’s letter listed six different companies that might assist with
services at Snoqualmie Valley Hospital. Besides Overlake, it mentioned
the American College of Professional Education; Dynacare, for the
running of the hospital laboratory; Amerinet, for disposables and equipment;
GE Capital, for major equipment; and Young’s Medical Billing Service,
for hospital billing.
On Sept. 10, Overlake president and CEO Kenneth D. Graham sent
his own letter to Lyle, forcefully refuting any agreement with ACMC.
“Overlake Hospital is not working with American Medical College in
any way, nor does it have plans to allow American College access to
the Hospital’s operating rooms for their surgical technician program,”
Graham wrote. “Carolyn St. Charles has communicated this information to
Ken Young.”
After introducing the letter, Hoch asked Young about the apparent
discrepancy between ACMC and Overlake. Young responded he
had only met with Graham once, and in any event, the agreement was
verbal and not written.
After the conclusion of the public comment period, the board
adjourned to executive session. Upon their return, a member introduced a motion
directing the board president not to enter into an agreement with ACMC.
“At this point, I would try to elaborate the reason for this action,”
said Hoch. “We agreed at a previous meeting to sign the letter of intent to
begin negotiations, pending the receipt of five items of information.
Afterwards, an article appeared in the paper
regarding the relationship between ACMC and Overlake.
“On Sept. 2, we received a letter from Kenneth Young, responding
to our questions. One item … specifically listed Overlake Hospital utilizing
the operating rooms. We subsequently received a letter from Ken Graham,
CEO of Overlake.
“I’d just like to conclude,” Hoch said, “based on the entire input
we’ve received – the Sept. 2 letter and the letter from Ken Graham – that the
credibility of ACMC has been significantly undermined, and the board feels a
lack of confidence and trust in negotiating with ACMC on that basis.”
With no further discussion, the board voted unanimously to end
consideration of ACMC. According to Lyle, the organization’s
representatives departed the meeting with no further comment.
In additional business, the board of commissioners voted to direct
Hoch to enter into negotiations with the Disabled American Veterans over a
possible land lease for an assisted living center.
Both board president Hoch and superintendent Lyle were out of
town this week and were unavailable for further comment. Young, on the
other hand, talked to the Valley Record on Monday.
“I have been behind this for the last year,” he stated, “and I have never
told the board anything that’s untrue. We had talked to Ken Graham –
Professor (Shahid) Sheikh, myself, and Carolyn St. Charles – and we can show
you documentation proving that all this took place.
“It’s hard to say who you’ll be working with in the future, but
I wanted to be completely up front and honest. I tried to explain that we
never had a signed agreement with Overlake, but Overlake was interested.
The documentation St. Charles gave us will prove it.”
Young added he had contacted state representative Kathy
Lambert, and she indicated she would talk to King County councilman
Brian Derdowski about the situation.
“They’ve got the Evergreen debt hanging over them – that’s an
additional $3 million – and yet they’re going to open a facility that helps
only Vets?” Young questioned. “God bless the vets, but it’s not going to be a
public hospital.
“We need to stay focused on the real issue, and that is getting it
reopened as a public hospital. We’re going to talk with our
representatives, and we’re going to do whatever we can.”
